1985 single by Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark
"
So in Love
" is a 1985 song by English
electronic
band
Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark
(OMD), released as the first single from their album
Crush
. It reached the top 30 of both the
UK Singles Chart
and the US
Billboard
Hot 100
, becoming their first entry on the latter. The track was a top 10 hit in Belgium and Holland.
The single's artwork and its accompanying promotional video were influenced by the Mexican
Day of the Dead
festival.
Song history
[
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]
Although "So in Love" was the first single from
Crush
, it was one of the last songs written for the album. It was originally dropped until band member
Martin Cooper
persuaded
Andy McCluskey
and
Paul Humphreys
to make a demo for the song. Andy McCluskey said it was about the painful end of a relationship. It was their first hit in the United States, after five years of trying to "break" the States,
[1]
peaking at No. 26 on the
Billboard
Hot 100
.
[2]
The song reached No. 27 on the
UK Singles Chart
.
[3]
The single's artwork, by XL Design, and its accompanying promotional video were influenced by the Mexican
Day of the Dead
festival.
[1]
Single and song versions
[
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]
The first approximately 50,000 copies of the 7" singles were released as a limited edition double-pack in a gatefold sleeve.
[1]
There were four different
12" singles
released, and one of these was also released as a
picture disc
. The first issue had the normal version of the song on the
A-side
, with an extended version of "Concrete Hands" on the
B-side
. Later issues included
remixes
of "So in Love" on the A-sides. Three remixes were made: the "Extended Version", "New Extended Version", and the "Brand New Extended Version", also known as the "Special American Dance Remix".
[
citation needed
]
Critical reception and legacy
[
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]
BBC Radio 2
DJ
David Hamilton
selected "So in Love" as his "Record of the Week", for the week of 13 May 1985.
[4]
Robin Smith of
Record Mirror
wrote, "How can you resist a song like 'So in Love'? A misty piece of McCluskey romance tinged with sadness before showing its true claws on the chorus."
[5]
Rolling Stone
'
s Paul Evans retrospectively described the track, and follow-up release "
Secret
", as "flawless singles".
[6]
Dave Thompson
of
AllMusic
called the song a "rich and sumptuous number" with "adamant beats, swelling synths, and dense textures".
[7]
On the other hand,
Spin
'
s
John Leland
viewed "So in Love" as a "limp romantic ballad" and accused OMD of "aping
the Smiths
without the Smiths' ability to transform their banality into awkward grace".
[8]
AFI
frontman
Davey Havok
recalled, "I became perpetually stuck to my single speaker cassette player, fingers poised to hit record when ['So in Love'] came on the radio. Its warm croon masked cold sentiment."
[9]
KROQ
ranked "So in Love" the 17th-greatest song of 1985;
[10]
in a poll of 6,852
Slicing Up Eyeballs
readers, it was voted the 27th-best track of the year.
[11]
B-sides
[
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]
"Concrete Hands" was released on the B-side of the 7" singles, and an extended version on the B-side of the 12" singles. It was also released on the
Navigation: The OMD B-Sides
compilation album in 2001. The lyrics were made of lines written on postcards sent by
Andy McCluskey
to his girlfriend.
[1]
"Maria Gallante" was an extra song on the 12" releases and can also be found on the second disc of the 7" double pack. Until now, it is not available on CD. The song takes its title from the Caribbean island
Marie-Galante
, although the lyrics deal with a girl.
[1]
"White Trash" is a song from the album
Junk Culture
. This live recording was recorded at
Hammersmith Odeon
on 3 October 1984, and was only released on the double 7".
Music video
[
edit
]
| This section
needs expansion
. You can help by
adding to it
.
(
October 2015
)
|
The official
music video
for the song was directed by
Andy Morahan
,
[12]
and filmed on-location in the
Province of Almeria
, in Spain.
[13]
The daytime scenes were shot in the village of
Alhabia
. Additional scenes were filmed in the
Tabernas Desert
, with night scenes on city streets filmed in the capital
Almeria
(specifically El Paseo and Cabo de Gata Avenue).
Track listings
[
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]
7" vinyl ? UK: Virgin VS 766
Title
|
---|
1.
| "So in Love"
| 3:29
|
---|
2.
| "Concrete Hands"
| 3:46
|
---|
2×7" vinyl ? UK: Virgin VS 766 (limited edition double pack)
Title
|
---|
1.
| "So in Love"
| 3:29
|
---|
2.
| "Concrete Hands"
| 3:46
|
---|
3.
| "Maria Gallante"
| 2:53
|
---|
4.
| "White Trash" (Live at Hammersmith Odeon)
| 4:44
|
---|
12" vinyl ? #1 UK: Virgin VS 766-12
Title
|
---|
1.
| "So in Love"
| 3:29
|
---|
2.
| "Concrete Hands" (extended)
| 4:15
|
---|
3.
| "Maria Gallante"
| 2:53
|
---|
12" vinyl ? #2 UK: Virgin VS 766-12 (same catalogue number, with sticker "New Extended Version")
Title
|
---|
1.
| "So in Love" (extended)
| 5:35
|
---|
2.
| "Concrete Hands" (extended)
| 4:15
|
---|
3.
| "Maria Gallante"
| 2:53
|
---|
12" vinyl ? #3 UK: Virgin VS 766-13
Title
|
---|
1.
| "So in Love" (new extended version)
| 5:35
|
---|
2.
| "Concrete Hands" (extended)
| 4:15
|
---|
3.
| "Maria Gallante"
| 2:53
|
---|
12" vinyl ? #4 UK: Virgin VS 766-14 / Virgin VSY 766-14 (picture disc)
Title
|
---|
1.
| "So in Love" (brand new extended version)
| 5:35
|
---|
2.
| "Concrete Hands" (extended)
| 4:15
|
---|
3.
| "Maria Gallante"
| 2:53
|
---|
12" vinyl ? #1 US: A&M SP-12143 promo
Title
|
---|
1.
| "So in Love" (Special American Dance Remix) (12" version)
| 5:20
|
---|
2.
| "So in Love" (Special American Dance Remix) (7" version) (actually the album version)
| 3:29
|
---|
12" vinyl ? #2 US: A&M SP-12143
Title
|
---|
1.
| "So in Love" (Special American Dance Remix)
| 5:40
|
---|
2.
| "Concrete Hands" (extended)
| 3:29
|
---|
Charts
[
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]
Weekly charts
[
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]
|
Year-end charts
[
edit
]
|
References
[
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]
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
"Official OMD Website ? Discography ? So in Love"
. Archived from
the original
on 11 February 2001
. Retrieved
25 January
2009
.
- ^
Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark: Chart History
at Billboard.com. Retrieved 20 November 2018.
- ^
a
b
"OMD: Artist Chart History"
.
Official Charts Company
. Retrieved 24 December 2020.
- ^
"Airplay Action".
Music Week
. 18 May 1985. p. 18.
- ^
Smith, Robin (22 June 1985). "OMD: Crush".
Record Mirror
. p. 16.
- ^
Evans, Paul (2004). "Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark". In Brackett, Nathan; Hoard, Christian (eds.).
The New Rolling Stone Album Guide
(4th ed.).
Simon & Schuster
. p.
607
.
ISBN
0-7432-0169-8
.
- ^
"So in Love" review
at
AllMusic
- ^
John Leland
(October 1985). "Singles".
Spin
. No. 6. p. 39.
- ^
Houghton, Richard (2019).
OMD: Pretending to See the Future
(expanded paperback ed.). This Day in Music Books. p. 455.
ISBN
978-1-9161156-2-0
.
- ^
"Top 106.7 Songs of 1985"
.
KROQ-FM
. 31 December 1985
. Retrieved
20 July
2022
– via RadioHitList.com.
- ^
"Top 100 Songs of 1985:
Slicing Up Eyeballs
'
Best of the '80s Redux ? Part 6"
.
Slicing Up Eyeballs
. 23 December 2019
. Retrieved
12 June
2021
.
- ^
Garcia, Alex S.
"mvdbase.com ? Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark ? "So in love"
"
.
Music Video DataBase
. Retrieved
31 October
2015
.
- ^
OMD official site - "So in Love"
- ^
Kent, David
(1993).
Australian Chart Book 1970?1992
(illustrated ed.). St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. p. 224.
ISBN
0-646-11917-6
.
- ^
"
OMD (Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark) ? So in Love"
(in Dutch).
Ultratop 50
. Retrieved 24 December 2020.
- ^
"European Top 100 Singles"
(PDF)
.
Eurotipsheet
. Vol. 2, no. 24. 17 June 1985. p. 11.
OCLC
29800226
– via World Radio History.
- ^
"
The Irish Charts ? Search Results ? So in Love"
.
Irish Singles Chart
. Retrieved 24 December 2020.
- ^
"
Nederlandse Top 40 ? Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark"
(in Dutch).
Dutch Top 40
. Retrieved 24 December 2020.
- ^
"
OMD (Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark) ? So in Love"
(in Dutch).
Single Top 100
. Retrieved 24 December 2020.
- ^
"Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark Chart History (Hot 100)"
.
Billboard
. Archived from
the original
on 24 September 2019
. Retrieved
24 December
2020
.
- ^
"Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark Chart History (Dance Club Songs)"
.
Billboard
. Archived from
the original
on 27 April 2019
. Retrieved
24 December
2020
.
- ^
"Cash Box Top 100 Singles ? Week ending November 23, 1985"
.
Cash Box
. Retrieved
24 December
2020
.
- ^
"
Offiziellecharts.de ? OMD (Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark) ? So in Love"
(in German)
.
GfK Entertainment charts
. Retrieved 24 December 2020.
- ^
"Jaaroverzichten 1985 ? Singles"
(in Dutch). Ultratop
. Retrieved
24 December
2020
.
- ^
"Top 100-Jaaroverzicht van 1985"
(in Dutch). Dutch Top 40
. Retrieved
24 December
2020
.
- ^
"Jaaroverzichten ? Single 1985"
(in Dutch).
Dutch Charts
. Retrieved
24 December
2020
.
External links
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]
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Studio albums
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Compilation albums
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Live albums
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Singles and EPs
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Videography
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Related articles
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